The 12 best-looking apps for your Android smartphone

For some reason, Android just can’t seem to shake its reputation for having worse apps than iOS.

While the iPhone got a jump-start on app development by opening the doors to developers in 2008, Android app makers have done an amazing job at playing catch-up.

From tracking your heart rate when you exercise to buying shoes, developers have created apps that take advantage of the features that make Android unique, including the minimalist aesthetic of the operating system itself and the large screens that are prevalent on many flagship devices from the biggest manufacturers.

That’s why Google’s Abhilash Kuduvalli created Android Niceties, a Tumblr page where he curates the Android apps with the best design. He hopes it can cause “inspiration and insight into Android UI conventions” for those looking at developing on the platform. We decided to follow his lead and picked out what we think are his best examples.

If you’re a frequent Reddit user, BaconReader Premium is your best option for checking the site on your Android device.

While many apps have come out with their own unique takes on presenting the weather in a clean and good-looking format, the BBC’s Weather app is a personal favourite.

Among the myriad note-taking apps available on Android, Catch Notes has the prettiest interface. Hopefully their competitors adopt some of the interface elements when Catch Notes shuts down its servers at the end of the month.

Expense Manager not only makes it easy to record where, how, and when you spend money, it also has great visualizations so you can see where you need to cut back.

Google Now is one of the most innovative apps on any platform. Rather than waiting for you to look for information, it monitors your activity to try to predict what you need and when. It then presents that information with a clean and concise interface.

Hold ‘Em Odds is a fun novelty app for showing the odds of winning a hand as you play a game of poker. The developers did a great job of stripping the interface down to the bare essentials for the task.